SINCE THE NEWS THATPeter Capaldi was going to regenerate this year, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the news of which actor would be filling the role as the 13th Doctor. With the advent of Missy and the Master, I half suspected that the new Doctor was going to be 1) Female and 2) probably a person of color, maybe black or Hispanic. I was prepared for this. Or at least, I thought I was.

I OPENED MY TWITTER FEED on the morning of July 16th, 2017 to post something along the lines of, “The new Doctor is going to be announced! I am so stoked, people!” And as I was about to post my excitement to the Twitterverse I looked at the trending topics and noticed #DoctorWho13? I clicked it to find that the Doctor had already been announced. Twitter was a flood of, “…and it’s a woman!”

I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT my first reaction was being really upset. Really, really upset. I mean, I had anticipated the change in direction, but I didn’t think they would do it? And the fact that they did surprised me? But not for the reason you may think. I have no issue with the Doctor being a woman. Or a person of color (eventually). I’m all for that! Hell, it gives me hope that I could be the first Filipino Doctor!

The 13th DOCTOR

MY REACTION isn’t because the Doctor is now a woman (and still not ginger). There’s a whole lot more involved than just a simple gender thing. I talk more about this in my article Why Do Girls Play Games? but I will try to speak a bit more about it here.

I’D LIKE TO TALK about the 13th Doctor, first. I have no idea who Jodie Whittaker is, but she was in Broad Church with David Tennant, which is a highly recommended show! Other than that I can’t say because I know nothing about the 13th Doctor. So I won’t know till next year and after Christmas. Although, I do wish she had a more iconic haircut?

EVERY DOCTOR HAS had a haircut that was a part of their charm, and it would be cool to see this 13th Doctor with a more iconic coif like Ashly Burch (actually I vote Ash for the 14th Doctor, yeah?) or Sombra from Overwatch! That’s just me though. Shorter is better, I always say! That and I’m digging her hood and coat, but I guess that’s a remnant of 12’s clothing? She would look cool if they brought back trench coats! I love trench coats. Anywho, my issue has nothing to do with her gender and everything to do with…

CENSORSHIP

NOW I’M NOT SAYINGDoctor Who is being censored. I don’t know, but it’s what I’m afraid of. This comes at a time when a very vocal minority is speaking out against TV/movies/video games and changes are being made in an attempt to essentially censor anything this group deems offensive or against their beliefs. I mean like the ban on a game because it was too “sexual”. Or the push to have all-female casts. Things of that nature. All things that are not necessarily a bad thing. Not at all! However, their voice is changing things. As a writer and an artist, this type of thing scares me: the idea that artistic works can be changed or silenced because of outside voices.

I UNDERSTAND THE need to have strong female characters and people of color added to the multiverse of TV/movies/games. And what better character than the Doctor to be female? But, I believe…

DIVERSITY

DIVERSITY FORDIVERSITY SAKE is the wrong way to do things. Diversity should be something that comes organically because it’s what the story calls for. Not because a group of people calls/complain/push for it. I think stories should be told with any characters that are necessary to tell the tale, whether they are straight, male, female, black, white, Asian, trans, gay, lesbian, all-male, all female, or what have you. And I hope that this change isn’t to quell the masses asking for the Doctor to be a woman. I hope it’s because Chris Chibnall truly has the passion to tell a story of the Doctor as a woman. Two totally different things that mean the world to me.

A SHOW THAT HANDLES this well is The Originals. There are black characters, white characters, people of color, a prominent gay character, a prominent lesbian couple, and it never seems forced since it all enforces the story. It’s amazing! I love The Originals. But I digress…

MY OPINION

I WOULD BE EQUALLY upset if the show was about a female Time Lord and this change happened. If for the last 50 or so years, Doctor Who was about a woman, and there came a time when the showrunners decided that a man (or a crazy alien creature, cause the Master has been a monster before) should take the mantle, I would have been upset with that too. As I said, it isn’t that the Doctor is a woman. It’s about making a change to long-running continuity for the sake of “keeping up with the times”.

HELL, I THINK THEY SHOULD have created a whole new show about a rogue Time Lord (maybe the Doctor’s daughter or freaking Susan Foreman) and I would have been all for that! I guess that’s the other thing? When creators feel the need to make major changes to a show/movie when they could have started another show based on (insert name here). In this case, a new series based on Doctor Who, like the Sarah Jane Chronicles or Torchwood, instead of adding changes to the main show.

FOR ME, I’M WRITING A STORY about a Spanish girl named Rel Rel. If I ever had it adapted to TV or Film (given I ever finish it) I would be royally pissed if they changed Rel Rel to a guy or changed her ethnicity, for any reason! The story is about a young Spanish girl, and any change to that idea would not be a welcome one.

FEMALE CHARACTERS and I mean strong female characters, should be something created with a story and a purpose, not just because we need strong female characters. I believe that any character created to cater to anyone, whatever their race, gender, religion, heritage, nationality, or what have you, is a terrible way to write characters. Characters should be written with passion by those that have the passion to bring those characters to life. Not to jump on some bandwagon that is trying to cater to everyone. I believe this about any character. Characters that have a life of their own. That isn’t a gimmick. That are strong because they’re interesting and unique. Those are the characters I want to see.

THIS MAY NOT BE THE CASE

YES, I CAN’T SAY that is what truly is happening to Doctor Who. It may not be. I have no idea. And it probably isn’t. These are just the thoughts and fears I had when I first heard the announcement. And it comes at a time when a lot is happening, and I am jaded with everything going on. I really am. But I will reiterate…

I DON’T FEEL LIKE things should be changed because outside people influenced the change. It should be a storytelling decision based on the writer/creator’s intent. No group, whatever their thoughts and beliefs, should EVER interfere with a story that’s trying to be told, no matter what it is.

I UNDERSTAND THOSE UPSET

I KNOWA LOT of people are upset. And I can relate. In a way. I mean for those truly upset that the Doctor is now a woman? I can’t get behind that. I just can’t. But I understand being upset that major changes have happened to a show that they love.

I GUESS, FOR ME it’s like if Supernatural changed long-running continuity because religious groups were upset about their depiction of angels and demons. Or Batman stopped fighting crime with his gadgets because a group thought it was too violent or an unrealistic depiction of how justice should be served. Again, this may not be the case for Doctor Who, but this is what scares me.

AND I GETTHAT FOR 50 YEARS the Doctor has been a white male. If this never changed, and he was a white male till the show finally ended, would it have been bad? It has been beloved for 50 years, and has gone on strong and created billions of devoted fans, both male and female, of every race and nationality. Does it need to change with the times? And if it was time for a change, why not have the Doctor die during his 13th regeneration (as he was supposed to) and reboot the show with a new female Time Lord? Like the same vein as Wolverine and X-23 or Ironman passing his legacy to Ironheart?

I MEAN GAMES like Zelda and Mario have essentially had the same protagonist, same formula, and same weapons since their inception. And despite a few changes here and there, it’s been the same since the beginning. And people still love it. What if there was a major change, that changed the game’s mythos, would fans be happy about that? If Mario was no longer Italian, or they upgraded his profession because a hero can’t be a lowly plumber, or they got rid of his hat and suspenders for a business suit, or a casual hoodie because he had to, “get with the times”? Would that not cause a stir?

I KNOW I CAN’T SPEAK for everyone, but I know some people, myself included, are upset because it’s changing. And I know for me, I’m not good with change. I’m the kind of person that reads the same types of books (fantasy) and plays the same kind of games (fantasy) and doesn’t like it when a franchise changes things up too much. I love certain books and shows because of what they bring to the table. I mean that’s why I’m not a fan of the new Beyond Good and Evil 2. It isn’t about the Doctor being female, it’s about change. And that can be scary.

THE COMMENT SH** SHOW

I AM TRULY DISGUSTED and upset by the vile comments that have cropped up since the reveal. I mean, like come on people, are you serious? And I don’t just mean the terrible sexist, misogynist comments, I mean from both sides, all around. People telling those upset to just shut up and grow up. Calling men “manbabies” for hating this change. Lumping everyone upset with the sexists and the misogynist. Some people can be upset about the change, and not because the Doctor is a woman, can’t they? I mean, like I said about Mario and Zelda…

FANS HAVE TRIED to kill for Beyonce. Have tried to goad someone into suicide for drawing Steven Universe characters off-model! Fans have gone at people violently for changing race and gender in FanArt. And while I don’t condone or agree, people fall in love with shows and then defend them to the death! It’s crazy. It’s utterly freakin’ redonk. But is it any wonder that some of these crazy people are upset with Doctor Who?

THERE’S JUST SO MUCH HATE revolving around this from fans and non-fans of Doctor Who. I understand people being upset, and I understand people being happy about this change! And yes, “Welcome to the internet.” But my goodness people, this was just horrible to watch and read. And this was the highest trending thing across all social media. It was really bad.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

JODIE WHITTAKER COULD BE amazing. We won’t know until we see her in action. Only time will tell, and I am willing to give this a chance. I really am. I hope this is a genuine change by Chris Chibnall. If it’s to satisfy the outcry for a female Doctor from the masses, that upsets me and I’m not on board. However, if Chris Chibnall intends to create a strong, female version of the Doctor because that’s the story he truly wants to tell? I am all for that.

It all just disappears, doesn’t it? Everything you are, gone in a moment like breath on a mirror.

Any moment now, he’s a coming, The Doctor and I always will be. But times change and so must I. We all change when you think about it.

We are all different people all through our lives and that’s okay, that’s good you’ve got to keep moving so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.

I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear. I will always remember when The Doctor was me…

-11th Doctor’s Regeneration Speech (Matt Smith)

IF SHE STILLS ACTS like the Doctor, has the quirkiness, and the crazy sense of justice that has been a mainstay of Doctors before her, I’ll be happy. I don’t mind the appearance change, but if she doesn’t act like a Doctor, that will upset me. I’m hoping against hope that this new direction doesn’t change what has made the Doctor, as a character, great. And to me, that’s the quirky dialogue, the oddball mannerisms, and the untempered genius that gets the Doctor out of any situation without the need for weapons or violence. Please, BBC, never change that!

IN CLOSING I would like to say that I had my reservations about David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi when they were first announced as their respective Doctors. Heck, when I first got into Doctor Who I wasn’t a big fan of Christopher Eccleston’s portrayal of the Doctor because I thought they had changed the scarfed 4th Doctor into a leather jacket-wearing Doctor to cater to a younger, hipper demographic! So my first instincts have been wrong before. I wish Jodie the best of luck as the 13th Doctor! I’m hesitant but interested to see what kind of Doctor she will be. Here’s to Christmas and the new season of Doctor Who in 2018!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading. Are you a fan of Doctor Who? What do you think of the 13th Doctor’s announcement? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! As always, keep that imagination kicking! Please take care, you all rock. Cheers!

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Published by Book Puppet

Book because I love books and puppet because I manipulate the written word and the pen like the strings of a marionette.
Or you can call me J.J. Filipino. Writer. Artist. Full time dad. Husband. I talk about geeky and nerdy things. I write, draw, do reviews, play video games, sometimes animate.
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3 thoughts on “DOCTOR WHO- The First Female Doctor? – Opinion”

Love the post, Josh! I think you’re on the money with these thoughts. I’m not really a big Doctor Who guy or anything. I’ve only really seen 1 and a half seasons, and there were some fun episodes, but I just couldn’t get into it like everyone else. But from an semi-outsider’s perspective some of the backlash against the change seems really stupid. I mean, based on what I understand of the DW lore it’s not uncommon or even really that strange or big a deal if a doctor is re-incarnated as a woman. It’s not the same as them straight up changing a regular character’s gender, because normal people don’t just randomly change genders, but the doctor can, even going so far as to check his gender after being re-incarnated at one point. So from the perspective of ‘the Doctor can’t be a woman!’ that just seems like the stupidest thing and not even supported by the show that these people claim to be fans of. I can’t really see it as anything other than a misogynistic view.
As for the change aspect, that’s something that I think is totally understandable. Change is difficult, especially with things that we love, and even more-so with things that are as long running as Dr. Who! Change will always push some people away and that’s what makes it hard for new ideas to be created, and why there are so many sequels and reboots. People don’t like change. We like what we know, and most people are super pessimistic about changes and new things. I’m guilty of it too, we all are. But change isn’t always a bad thing. In fact I’d say that there’s almost always a net gain from changing something up. That’s how things improve and get better. I understand trepidation and hesitation with having a new doctor, but I don’t really understand the trepidation based solely on the fact that it’s a female. A lot of people seem to be afraid because it is a signal of PC culture creeping into media or something, but I think that really seems like a giant leap of logic. To say that because a woman is cast as the lead of a show is an omen of the ‘end times’ or something it just seems really backwards to me. It reminds me of when people were saying (and still say) that it was scandalous to have females in the work-force or as politicians and stuff… like what is this the 50’s? lol I think that line of thinking fits a narrative that is just as bogus as the narrative that a female doctor is somehow the savior of feminism. Why should the new doctor have any different treatment from the previous doctors based on her gender? Isn’t that the opposite of everything that everyone wants? She shouldn’t get a free pass or be immune to hesitation from fans because she’s a woman, because none of the other doctors got that luxury; and she also shouldn’t get harsher scrutiny because she’s female. That’s not fair and doing so would be proving the point that gender identity in media IS the most important thing and that Hollywood SHOULD focus on that because we focus on it so much.
So yeah, I think you’re right. As long as the doctor retains what the doctor is and should be then it doesn’t matter who the doctor is black, green, man woman, etc… what matters is the story and the result of everything. Who cares if Chris Chibnall heard a feminist talking about female representation and was inspired to make a female Doctor? Why would that be inherently bad? Just because it came from a feminist and that isn’t what I believe in? Well then why watch anything? If the only media we consume is just to confirm our own biases and worldviews then there’s no point in watching anything, because inevitably we’re gonna watch a show that was created or written by someone who was not our same religion, or creed, or held our values. I mean, God forbid a feminist idea or two make it into the media. haha I don’t consider myself much of a feminist, but I definitely think feminists have some really valid points and ideas, and I don’t think that ideas should be thrown out simply because they are ‘feminist’. I doubt that Mr. Chibnall is trying to shove a feminist agenda down everyone’s’ throats, but if he thought it would be a good statement to make, like ‘listen, I made this show, and if I want the doctor to be female, then she will be!’ Or even that he wanted a doctor for little girls to look up to. As you said, it should the writer’s story that should be above all other opinions, and not subject to outside forces, including the fans that dictate what a writer writes about.
That’s kind of what it seems like everyone is saying, “the writer shouldn’t be influenced by outside places” and then proceed to bully the writer into doing what they want.
I’m not sure I’m quite on the same page as you as far as non-interference with creative endeavors, though. At least in the realm of multi-media creations like movies and shows. I agree with the principle that creators should not be influenced by outside forces, but in practice I personally don’t think that’s a great way to go about things.
I definitely don’t think creators should be bullied or pressured into doing things that ruin their visions, or anything like that, I mean, if someone did that with MY creations I would be super pissed, but there are countless examples of stories that have changed and evolved drastically from their initial scripts and become extremely different films that were ultimately much better off because of it. Things like Emperor’s New Groove, which bares next-to-no resemblance of it’s original script to amazing classics like Toy Story, which went through countless iterations before its current form. Films and TV shows are such collaborative efforts that it is impossible to have a direct script-to-film adaptation. Unless the writer is also the director, producer, and actors. There’s just always so much input and so many people involved who all bring different perspectives and attitudes to the work in order to fulfill a grander vision. That’s why film is so interesting and complex and amazing! At least to me.
So while I’m definitely hesitant of change, like everyone is, and I think it’s fine to be skeptical of things, for me the most important thing is not the writer’s intent or passion or even the director’s vision or any of that. The most important thing to me is the final product. The sum of all the parts. If you have a great script with all the passion in the world, it means jack-s**t if the director is garbage or the editing botches it all up. To me it doesn’t matter if it started as a feminist propaganda piece, or a misogynistic field day, what matters to me is what was the result. What did it become? Who cares if it started as a PC Culture push? If it didn’t end that way then it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t buy into these political narratives that are always being thrown about. The cries from one side of ‘PC Culture is coming! The feminists are ruining media.’ I don’t think that’s happening, but I do think that we are becoming more aware of our lack of diversity and cultural insensitivity, which I think is a good thing. I also don’t believe the screams from the other side of ‘The evil patriarchy is surprising women and minorities, white people are evil and men are rapists and abusers with no-self control, and women can’t be sexist against men because of ‘power dynamics’ and all that blah blah blah’. To me it’s all the same. Just a bunch of people all afraid of the big bad boogeyman on the other side. The evidence doesn’t support either side, and most of the ‘proof’ that people use are anecdotes and stories, rather than actual evidence. >_<
Like I said before, I'm not a huge Doctor Who guy, but I hope for all our sakes that the new season and doctor will blow everyone away and continue making the fans happy. : )

Hey Jordan! Thank you for the reply, and for reading! I really appreciate it 🙂 I will admit that the backlash is stupid. And sadly a lot of people are mad about the gender which is pretty lame. But I guess I kind of fall in the same camp, in a way?

They did mention that Time Lords can regenerate into a woman (or an alien) but that was introduced recently into canon. And with regards to Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) he was surprised he might be a girl when he touched his hair. So even he was surprised by it.

I guess for me the Doctor started off as a man and every subsequent regeneration, for him, was male. There are also Time Ladies that also regenerated into only women. I know that is because of the writers keeping them in line with their original genders, but I just always thought that’s the way it was. The Master regenerated into Monsters before, but never a woman until the newest season. Like I said it wasn’t until recently that they started to introduce this to regeneration (as far as I know, I haven’t seen all of classic Who so I could be wrong).

To me, even if cannon says they can change genders, the Doctor is always a man to me. Just like I’d be upset if his daughter (Susan Foreman from the 1st Doctor’s series) came back as a man. I’d be like, uh? Why didn’t you regenerate into a woman? I’d feel this way for any of the other Time Ladies. I’d want them to come back as women.

I mean I’m very much of the mind set of not changing characters. I think I’d rather have a reboot or killing them off completely. I know a lot of people are against this because she’s a woman, but I just don’t like character changes in general. I really didn’t want them to recast the Joker since Heath Ledger was brilliant. I mean I loved Jered Leto, but I was like, you’re not the Joker. And I’ll be upset when they finally recast Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, unless they keep him dead. And I got into the Harry Potter movies at Goblet of Fire so the New Dumbledore was my Dumbledore. When I went back to watch the first few movies, I was like this isn’t my Dumbledore XD Who is this impostor? Like I said I’d rather have them move onto another character, another series, or just end it cause for me that character is gone. Unless of course, in the case of Dumbledore, the story needs to continue and a recast is necessary.

Like I said, I’m just bad with change. And as progressive as this is, I still feel like they should have either killed the Doctor on his final regeneration cycle (because a Time Lord is only supposed to have 12 regenerations and it’s over, so his 12th regeneration was supposed to end with the 11th Doctor –there was another unnamed Doctor called the War Doctor that still counts, making the 11th technically the 12th :P–) and started anew, or had a spin off of a new Time Lord/Lady (or brought back one of the many Time Ladies that exist in the universe) and started a new series.

Or, what really would have been cool is if the Doctor ended his last regeneration, and passed the torch onto the Master (now Missy) since they were best friends as children. The Master always wanted the Doctor’s TARDIS, and it would have been interesting to see Missy’s struggle to do good as we followed her exploits through the universe. But that’s just me writing fan fiction again lol

But with that said, I agree that change isn’t always a bad thing. It can freshen things up, and Doctor Who has been going on for 50 years. Now while I am very much for ending the series once his regeneration cycle was up, I can see how the show may have needed to change itself. Upgrade and all. I mean no other show has lasted 50 years, and I can see that it was high time to switch things up.

For me the PC thing goes beyond TV and movies, to other things like what’s going on at some colleges, where there was an incident where they tried to ban offensive Halloween costumes. I understand being offended by some of the more stereotypical costumes, but to me it’s like trying to enforce what people wear. Or when there was a protest in a college where a group kept white students from getting to their classes, and forced them to take an alternate route. There’s a PC shift for equality that in some instances isn’t equality at all, which I am totally against. So when I see something like that cropping up in media, it upsets me.

I agree, and it is something I didn’t touch on or really think about, that regardless of the writer’s intent, it’s the end product that matters most. That’s true. Because regardless of intent, sometimes what’s created is a steaming pile. It made me think of George Lucas and how he had complete control over the prequel Trilogy. I mean, I enjoy the Prequels, but still, they’re not as good as the original Trilogy. But I mostly meant like PC culture, or fans asking for edits and changes. But that’s a whole thing altogether lol

And on the note of people being afraid of the Boogey Man, I’ll also admit that I’m a terribly paranoid person. I have really bad social anxiety. I try to avoid going out, but when I do I always think people and cars are following (literally following me) and I feel like everyone is watching and staring at me. Makes me nervous. And when I swim in dark water, I always feel like there’s something beneath the water that’s going to eat me. Even when I’m in a lake XD And there’s always something in the dark watching me.

But yes, I hope the new season will go well too 🙂 I’m a huge fan, and I’m still interested to see where this goes. Now, with this new regeneration cycle, I’m hoping that every regeneration after this will now be a woman! I’m looking forward to maybe seeing Ashly Burch, Emma Watson, or Hayley Atwell filling the shoes as the Doctor! One thing I hope is that the Doctor (with the exception of Ashly Burch of course) no matter race/color/gender will always have a British/Scottish accent! That would throw me off, too, if the Doctor didn’t. And when the Doctor reverts back to a man (if he ever does) I’ll be right there to rant about “why is it a man now, after all this time” 😛

No problem! I enjoy reading your thoughts about this stuff. 🙂 And I think your points are fair. If Dr. Who had been a woman this whole time and they changed her to a man hoooo boy it would be a progressive-sharknado-sh*t-storm. So I definitely see the hypocrisy of the ‘so called progressives’ and their blatant (but somehow always excusable by some socio-political phenomenon) sexism. So I definitely see where people are coming from when they call those people out on their bullcrap, but for me two-wrongs don’t make a right, and when people ignore their own issues then it’s also hypocritical to call out the other side. And I think you are honest about your thoughts, and I think that’s really awesome, and it just shows that you aren’t following the herd, but you have your own legitimate concerns.

And I totally know where you’re coming from with regards to character changes. I think everyone has that (myself included), and I think a healthy reservation about new casting decisions and characters is fine and normal for the most part. The Joker example is perfect, because Heath Ledger was a fantastic joker, and I was REALLY nervous about Jared Leto’s joker, especially when I saw the costume. For me, I find myself embracing change more as time goes on. Like when I only knew about the 1989 Batman Joker portrayed by Jack Nicholson and the animated Mark Hamill portrayal, when I first saw posters of The Dark Knight’s dark and gritty joker, I was extremely skeptical, thinking: “Who is this Clown?” (he he puns) And why is it like a horror movie villain? But then I saw TDK and it blew my freaking mind, and Heath Ledger took home the gold of Joker portrayals. For some people that was an even bigger shock, because for some people (like my Dad) Jack Nicholson was THE definitive joker, and they were offended that someone would even attempt to try playing him after the perfection that was Jack Nicholson. But it turns out the change was all for the best!
And on the other hand, I really really dislike Jared Leto’s portrayal. In that case, I feel like all my fears about the new joker came true, and I think Jared Leto’s joker is quite literally a joke. The design that they did just is so stupid to me lol I know it’s just opinion, but the excessive tattoos, the grill, the whole being topless all the time, and general gangster vibe and pimp-persona is just the worst. lol Plus I think he just didn’t really understand the concept of being the Joker. I dunno, there wasn’t any real Bat vs. Joker scenes so it’s hard to tell, but when I saw suicide squad I was like face-palming the whole time he was on screen. I’m not saying that a gangster joker couldn’t work, but I just think the way Leto did Joker in this last film was thoroughly disappointing for me. >_<
So on one hand change can be really awesome and necessary, like with Ledger, and on the other hand, it can fail miserably like with Jared Leto (for me at least).
It's actually the opposite for me with Dumbledore too haha I liked the first one when I was a kid because he was so kindly and just seemed like an actual Wizard, and when the new one came in he was mean, and grim, and I was like… wtf? In the books he is really warm and gentle with Harry, which makes it jarring when he blows up or gets upset, but with the new Dumbledore I thought he always seems upset and like the uptight principle of the school, how is Harry supposed to feel comfortable even talking to this guy lol but over time I came around to liking the new Dumbledore. So for me it was a neutral change. 🙂
So I definitely can agree with you there that any time a character is re-cast it always brings some resistance and trepidation like with Wolverine and the other characters you mentioned, but for me, I don't mind them being re-cast, I'm just nervous about how the new person will treat the character. That is totally understandable to me. What I have a much harder time understanding is people being mad JUST because she's a woman. But with your explanation it does make more sense to me now, and I can see it a little more.

I do like your idea of having a 'villainous' Doctor trying to be good sounds like a super interesting concept! haha I like that.

As for the whole PC Culture and Outrage Culture thing I totally agree that what many groups are doing by going to the extreme is extremely idiotic and wrong. All those examples you mentioned are stories are the reasons why I can't fully get on board with feminism or BLM and other nebulous groups of people who go around just yelling at everyone. I definitely still sympathize with their plights, there are times when I consider myself part of the feminist movement or the black lives matter movement and stuff like that, but I'm never on board with everything, and it's because of those extreme examples and the fact that the other members of the group and their figure-heads seem to turn a blind-eye towards the corruption and toxicity that exists in their own group. I hate that so much, and I would never want to align myself with a group that does that. So I'm definitely not saying that the PC Culture doesn't exist, but I just don't believe that it is as wide-spread as everyone thinks it is. Everyone talks like 'Oh the PC Culture is coming and it's infecting our children' like it's a plague, and I just don't see it. There are a few really loud people that are pushing that toxic PC agenda, and the media focuses heavily on that, but in reality I think most people are just normal, and most people really hate that stuff, nobody wants to be told what they can and can't say. So overall I don't think that there are nearly as many outrageous PC police as people think. It's the same with the left attacking white-supremacists and the alt-right. Sure, it's a noble cause, but there really aren't nearly as many alt-righter white supremacists out there as people imagine. The right and left are battling these monsters that they pretend are like 100 ft high dragons, when in reality they are just komodo dragons which are dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous, and instead of killing the komodo dragons, they are hitting innocent civilians with their attacks.
Anyway, I didn't mean to get super political, but my main point is, sure the toxic PC culture pushers exist, and I mostly disagree with them, but I don't think that censorship, political correctness, social justice, or regulation are inherently evil like the right-wingers would have everyone believe. The problem is when those things are FORCED on people. But by themselves they serve their own purposes. Social justice is a great thing to have when you are on the receiving end of racism or prejudice. Censorship helps it so that our children aren't seeing porn in their regularly scheduled television programming. Political correctness can help create a inviting and comfortable environment that helps people feel welcome. And regulation makes it so that we aren't living in the wild west being sold snake-venom as medicine from the guy off the corner. It's only when those things become the sole purpose of someone's' existence or as a tool to gain power that they become a problem, in my opinion. Everything in moderation I guess. : )

Oh man… I totally know what you mean with the deep water phobia. I am terrified of deep water. I even get anxiety when I play video games that have it, or especially when video games have giant sea monsters. It's like my worst nightmare. I still occasionally get nightmares about it and wake up in a terrified cold sweat. It's the worst haha

To me it seems like you have a normal sense of hesitation with the new Dr. Who and you have valid reasons. I just think there are a lot of people on both sides who are just using this as an excuse to further their own agenda, and it bothers me, as I'm sure it does you, even though I'm not a huge fan of the show to begin with. lol